Question and answer 27

What are the eight limbs of yoga?

They are: yama, niyama, posture, breath-control, withdrawal of the senses, concentration, meditation, and absorption. (1) Yama means keeping to conduct like non-violence, truthfulness, not stealing, chastity, and owning nothing beyond need. (2) Niyama means keeping to conduct like purity, contentment, austerity, studying the scriptures, and surrendering to God. (3) As for posture: of the many kinds, eighty-four count as principal, and among those the yoga treatises single out four — the Lion, the Auspicious, the Lotus, and the Adept's posture — as the best, with the Adept's posture the very best of the four. (4) Breath-control: by the timing the scriptures lay down, breathing out is called recaka, breathing in is called pūraka, and holding the breath still in the Heart is called kumbhaka. Different treatises measure these differently — some make recaka and pūraka equal and kumbhaka twice as long; others make pūraka twice recaka and kumbhaka four times as long. One unit of measure is simply the time it takes to recite the Gāyatrī mantra once. Practise this threefold breathing as gently and as gradually as you can, day after day, and the body will come to feel light and settled, and the mind itself will start wanting nothing more than to rest, unmoving, in bliss. After this comes withdrawal. (5) Withdrawal means steering the mind away from chasing after names and shapes outside, into a single channel. Since a mind that has been running wild cannot simply be gathered up all at once, these all help: holding the sacred syllable Oṃ in the mind alone; fixing the eyes between the eyebrows; fixing them instead at the tip of the nose; or listening closely to the inner sound. A mind gathered this way becomes able to stay in one place. After this comes concentration. (6) Concentration means holding the mind at a spot fit for meditation. The best such spots are the Heart and the crown of the head. At the centre of the eight-petalled lotus at either spot, picture the very form of Brahman — the deity that is the Self — burning there like a lamp's flame, and hold the mind steadily on that. After this comes meditation. (7) Meditation means dwelling, through the thought 'I am That', on your not being different from that light you have just been picturing. And if, trusting the scripture that says 'that same form of Brahman, present everywhere, shines as the Self in the Heart, witnessing the intellect,' you take yourself to be exactly that and ask, Who am I — you will find the divine Self, right there in the lotus of the Heart, blazing up entirely on its own as 'I, I'. This sustained attention is the finest kind of meditation there is. (8) Absorption is what this meditation ripens into: a state where it no longer even occurs to you 'I am this' or 'I am doing that', because the mind has dissolved completely into what it was meditating on — or, put another way, a state so fine that even the throb of 'I, I' has quieted. Simply guard against falling asleep in it, and keep at it, patiently, every single day, without a break — and before long the Lord, in his grace, will grant you that finest of all states, where the mind is at rest.

What are the eight limbs of yoga?

They are yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, dhāraṇā, dhyāna, and samādhi. Of these — (1) Yama is observing conduct such as non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, chastity, and non-possessiveness. (2) Niyama is observing conduct such as purity, contentment, austerity, the study of scripture, and surrender to God. (3) Āsana: of the varieties of posture, 84 are principal; of these, the yoga treatises say the four — the lion, the auspicious, the lotus and the adept's posture — are foremost, and that, among even these, the adept's posture (siddhāsana) is the very foremost. (4) Prāṇāyāma: by the count of time-units (mātrā) laid down in the scriptures, releasing the breath is called recaka, taking it in is called pūraka, and holding it still in the Heart is called kumbhaka. As for the measure of these units, some treatises give recaka and pūraka equal measure and kumbhaka twice that; others give pūraka twice the measure of recaka and kumbhaka four times that. A mātrā is defined as the time taken to recite the Gāyatrī mantra once. If one practises this threefold prāṇāyāma as gently and as gradually as one is able, day after day, the body comes to feel a certain lightness together with steadiness, and the mind comes to desire to remain blissfully without any movement. After this, pratyāhāra is to be practised. (5) Pratyāhāra is directing the mind into a single channel by not letting it run out after the names and forms outside. Since a mind that has run about scattered until now finds it difficult to be gathered just like that, the following assist it: meditation on the praṇava (Oṃ) in the mind alone; fixing the gaze between the eyebrows; fixing the gaze at the tip of the nose; and close attention to the inner sound (nāda). A mind thus gathered becomes fit to remain in one place. After this, dhāraṇā is to be practised. (6) Dhāraṇā is fixing the mind in a place fit for meditation. The Heart and the brahmarandhra are the foremost such places. In the middle of the eight-petalled lotuses present in these two places, one holds the thought that the very form of Brahman, as the deity that is the Self, is shining there like the flame of a lamp, and fixes the mind steadily upon it. After this, dhyāna is to be practised. (7) Dhyāna is meditating, through the attitude 'I am That' (soham), that one is not different from that light-natured form spoken of above. And if, in keeping with the scriptural saying 'that very form of Brahman, present everywhere, shines, as the Self, in the Heart, as the witness of the intellect', one takes oneself to be exactly so and enquires by the enquiry 'Who am I', it becomes evident that the divine Self, in the lotus of the Heart, blazes forth of its own accord as 'I, I'. This meditation, in the form of such sustained attention, is the most excellent kind. (8) Samādhi is the state that ripens out of the meditation just described, in which it no longer occurs to one 'I am such-and-such' or 'I am doing such-and-such' — the mind being wholly dissolved in the object meditated upon; or, described otherwise, the subtle state in which even the pulsation 'I, I' has subsided. If, in this state, one merely guards against sleep and continues, without fail, day after day, in due order, this sustained attention, the Lord will, very soon, graciously grant the most excellent state, which is the repose of the mind.